Portable air compressors are commonly found in construction and trades industries. Many commercial air compressors are towed behind, or loaded onto, utility vehicles for use at job sites and are powered by an external source of fuel. These compressors may be large, heavy, suffer from performance issues and require independent power sources.
Linearly actuated air compressors may address some of these issues by facilitating dual stage compression, which can allow for smaller piston sizes and higher cycle speeds. Also, the power created by a linear actuator may be more directly transferred into compressed air than rotational actuator and may reduce or eliminate side loading on air pistons, seals and hydraulic pistons.
Prior art linear actuators include those disclosed in:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,638;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,784,579;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,761,118;
U.S. Pat. No. 3,780,622;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,238,372;
U.S. Pat. No. 3,846,048;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,275,540;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,397,614; and
U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,116.
There is a general desire to provide linear actuators and linear actuated air compressors that improve upon known prior art designs.
The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related thereto are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings.